


Will You?

by Enmuse (Scifiroots)



Category: Dead Zone
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Fluff, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Real Life, Realization, Same-Sex Marriage, Written for NaNoWriMo, maine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-08
Updated: 2012-11-08
Packaged: 2017-11-18 05:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/557341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scifiroots/pseuds/Enmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just a snippet for my greatest love, my top-all OTP of all time, because Johnny Smith and Bruce Lewis are located in Maine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will You?

**Author's Note:**

> (This is counting for my workcount in NaNo. This is also basically just something I typed out here and did only a cursory proofing for.)
> 
> Disregards canon post S5, though Bruce did relocate for a job, here he's still in Maine (in Portland) instead of Boston, since Massachusetts has already passed marriage equality. These two have been in a relationship for many years with multiple ups and downs. Should also note, this is not a story that refers at all to Johnny's psychic abilities.

_"The words man and woman 'relating to the marital relationship or familial relationships must be construed to be gender-neutral for all purposes,' the Maine measure says."_

Monday passed as a normal work day, though politics were an unavoidable topic - as they had been recently - among the staff and clients at the clinic. Bruce had to bite his tongue several times but managed to stay civil throughout the day. Tuesday was even more highly charged and Bruce had to make himself resist the urge to shut off the radio where speculations flew back and forth every fifteen minutes. He wanted some silence to at least offer a modicum of peace throughout the day. Results were not going to be called before he needed to crash and sleep, he hated getting tied up in knots as they waited to hear the results. So many things were on the ballots across the nation and it was nerve-wrecking. He honestly couldn't talk about the question posed in Maine, too scared to wonder what a decision would really mean - and why should he create any hopes? Popular vote time and again and again _and again_ chose to define marriage strictly between one man and one woman; the mad scramble to apply strict adherence to a definition in some states had managed to outlaw marriage entirely due to poor language choices. ( _Yes, Texas, I'm looking at you,_ he thought with some amusement.)

Bruce went to bed around midnight, assured that the president had been re-elected and determined to put everything else out of his mind so that he could just get some sleep before getting up for work.

The Doors' "Touch Me" burst through the night's quiet at two a.m., startling Bruce awake. Instinctively recognizing Johnny's ringtone, Bruce managed to have the phone in hand before he even opened his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked with a sleep-roughened voice. "Are you okay?"

Laughter, pure, joyful laughter filtered through the phone. Bruce stared up at his ceiling blankly as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. After a moment he sat up and scrubbed at his eyes. "What the hell? Are you drunk? Sometimes you get giggly when you're drunk. Oh Lord, did someone convince you to do an election night drinking game? Was it Walt? I wouldn't think Sarah would condone that."

Johnny said something but his chuckling masked the words.

"Dude, chill. I am confused and soon going to be grumpy if you had me worried for nothing."

"S-sorry, sorry," Johnny gasped. He audibly worked on stifling the laughter and despite the hour and his exhaustion, Bruce felt lighthearted for hearing the joy in his lover's voice. "So there's this thing I have to ask," Johnny finally said. There were still traces of good humor in his tone but he also sounded nervous, which made Bruce focus.

"Yeah? You're okay, right?"

"Bruce, will— Damn it, this is— Oh to hell with it! Bruce?"

"Yeah?" Bruce was starting to get nervous again and he tossed back the sheets, turning to get out of bed when Johnny continued:

"Will you marry me?"

The question stopped Bruce cold. He sat frozen at an odd angle, feeling his heart thud heavily against his ribs. He thought he might have whispered _What?_ as he tried to make the connections. They had— And there was—

" _Oh my God,_ " he breathed, eyes widening in the dark. His breath caught as the meaning sunk in. "Oh my God. We _won_?"

Johnny chuckled but there was more nervousness than delight in it this time. As Johnny was confirming Bruce's question, the penny dropped on the fact that _hey, Johnny Smith just asked Bruce Lewis to marry him._

"Yes!" Bruce shouted. He took a deep breath, prepared to answer more fully, but then surprised, delighted laughter spilled out instead and he had to brace himself with his free hand pressed to the mattress. He felt breathless and lightheaded, he felt like dancing on fucking air. "Oh my _God_..."

"Bruce... you're sure?"

Bruce scrubbed a hand over his wet cheeks and brushed away the stupid tears that had sprung to his eyes. "God, yes, John." He stood on shaky legs but managed to stumble his way to the dresser to pull out clothes. "I can't believe— Holy shit. Are you awake? What the fuck am I saying? Obviously you are. Look, I'm getting dressed, I'm coming over."

"You're not going to make it to work," Johnny protested, sounding confused and amused.

"Damn it, I am not going to sit on my own in this pathetic little place in Portland when you just _proposed_ to me! I'll leave a message for work or— or quit. Jesus, I don't freaking care, I just need to see you."

He heard Johnny suck in a breath at the other end of the line. "I need you, too," came the reply.

Bruce closed his eyes against another sting of tears. He chuckled, chest filled tight with astonishment and joy. "I'll be there soon."

"Take your time, I want you getting here in one piece," Johnny admonished.

"Cross my heart," Bruce promised. He was reluctant to turn off the phone, but he would need to focus if he wanted to get anything done without losing his head. "Yes," he whispered again.

"I love you," Johnny said.

Bruce felt his cheeks ache from how wide he was grinning. "I love you, too," he murmured.

**~♥~**

**Author's Note:**

> INTERRUPTING YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED NANOWRIMO TO CELEBRATE THREE STATES MAKING HISTORY IN THE USA - APPROVING LEGALIZATION OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE THROUGH POPULAR VOTE! Also celebrating Minnesotans' turn-out to keep the amendments about voter ID and limited definition of marriage from passing. So fucking proud of people right now.
> 
> I have no idea what time they actually called the results for the measure. I know the amendment results were called in Minnesota around 2:30 AM-ish according to the time-stamp of the report I read.


End file.
